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Faith

Recently, my teen daughter shared with me a few of her verse art (faith journal pages) and I think its such an awesome idea!! Her wonderful art takes on the verses as well as a friend from church sharing her beautiful and creative Bible study notes have inspired me to sit down with my Bible study and put a verse into visual. Today begins the Proverbs 31 ministry study “What if Women Walk In Faith” our verses this week are Hebrews 10:35-36.

Just allowing the words, colors, and thoughts to flow as I doodled on the page thinking more about each of the words of the verse was quite relaxing and meditative. Just taking the time to allow the words of this verse to settle on my mind has blessed my morning.

Hebrews 10:35 “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”

You are never— Hear This please – You are NEVER so far that the Love of God can’t reach you. He loves you EVEN when you are at your Darkest, Lowest point. He knows your deepest darkest secrets, and your every thought. And still God loves you!!! He loves you so much that he made a way to have a relationship with him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18 KJV

There is hope – If you are hearing, reading this, or thinking on this – There is hope! God doesn’t mind what kind or brand of clothes you have on. God doesn’t mind whether you are poor or if you are rich. God doesn’t mind if you are famous, popular, a loner, or independent. God doesn’t mind if you are royalty or homeless. God doesn’t mind if you have no tattoos or if you have millions of them …. God doesn’t mind if you have no piercings or multiple piercings. God doesn’t mind if you drive a BMW or if you take the bus or if you have no transportation. God doesn’t mind if you are the CEO of a company or if you have no no current occupation. Regardless of externals, We are ALL Equals at the foot of the cross. God cares deeply about you! The external things do not help or prevent you from knowing the love of God. God sees your heart. He loved you before you were even born – He loves you now – He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to adopt you into his family – he wants you to become the sons and daughters of the King of Kings.

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3: 3-7 NKJV

There WILL inevitably be arduous days and/or seasons in your life There will be things that you have to deal with that you would rather not. Salvation, and being a Christ follower does not eliminate pain, hurt, tragedy, sadness, grief or trials from your life but it means that you can have assurance that you don’t ever face it alone. God promises to never leave or forsake those who have a saving relationship with him.

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5-6 KJV

Knowing God personally (not just knowing of him) and knowing his unchanging character allows you to rest in these promises and have faith and peace even in difficulties.

I want my kids to know that God knows each of them – the good and the bad and he loves them. I want them to know that no matter the depth of pain or difficult path they can reach for God and find hope that this world can not offer.

Like this:

I read the words then re-read the words over and over mulling over them in my mind.

“In the valley of the sheep, David learned to depend on God. God’s presence, provision, and power accompanied David wherever he went and people could see it.” … “Maybe you’re in your own valley of sheep right now. Maybe you think you are going unnoticed and your assignment is not what you want it to be. Just remember we must go through the valley, where we humble ourselves before God, before we can go out for God…” – Derwin L. Gray in his book Limitless Life: You Are More Than Your Past When God Holds Your Future

Had David not spent time in the valley with the sheep and experiencing what God had for him in the valley would he have become the courageous person who faced the giant? I am sure that he gained wisdom in the valley that he would draw from years later when he was king. We can all take courage that our God is infinite and awesome exceeding human expectation. Now, not all of us will be king, nor will we all take our place in history for slaying a philistine giant. However we do have dreams God has placed in our hearts and we all have/will have valleys where we can humble ourselves, drawing closer to God, gaining wisdom and experience. We don’t know what the future holds for any of us but we can be sure of one who does.

A few years ago, I began a weight loss journey through eating and fitness modifications. My weight loss in less than a year was about 130+ pounds. From that point I continued to learn from many wonderful trainers and friends more about nutrition and fitness. I began to realize I had a passion for helping and encouraging others to pursue fitness and health. I enrolled in a program to become a personal trainer.

Then my path was diverted. My children experienced some health issues, my finances tightened further, and I began to inexplicably gain some weight. I had not made changes in my eating nor alterations to my fitness endeavors but I was gaining weight and becoming totally frustrated. In total I gained almost 30 pounds. We tested for a variety of possible explainable health causes to weight gain – but Nothing. Nothing that is except stress. Stress, worry, and anxiety have repercussions on a body as well as mind.

As I sat in my frustration I also looked over my life – Wow I had become COMPLETELY out of Balance. My eating was very rigid (more of an extremely restrictive diet than a plan I could live with the rest of my life). My kids were great about my gym time and encouraged me. The gym had a daycare the kids could hang out while I worked out which is great. However I was always on-the-go hurrying here to there. Yes they saw the value “I” placed on fitness and being healthy but for my family was I helping them to be active and healthy? There was way too much emphasis on the “I”. Where was our quality time? Was my life teaching them proper perspective? Please don’t read this wrong… I believe in hitting the gym, working out and staying fit. And I DO believe everybody, parents included (especially us single parents) need some “me” time –and gym time is a great stress reliever for me. But I had taken it beyond “me” time to an EXTREME- and it needed to be adjusted.

I paused in my pursuit of being a personal trainer – I felt inept.

This year was the breaking year for me; with better balance I began to again pursue my fitness and health goals with my kids along side. Instead of pursuing self –glorification, I choose now to seek after honoring God more through my fitness and nutrition endeavors. In stewardship, I want to take care of the body I have been given. I still hit a gym when I can- and I work out at home. I’ve been able to shed many of the pounds I had regained. Moreover, I am eating more balanced and living life a bit more fully.

A couple months back, someone asked me whether I ever finished the personal training certification – I dropped my head and said “no”. In my heart I still had the calling, the passion to encourage and help others but because of the set backs I had allowed myself to be defeated. I had just a couple weeks left to finish the course but had no intention to do so – self doubt and fear can be very crippling. A few days later, my daughter and I were discussing the personal training. I rattled my excuses… my gaining a some of the lost pounds back and my frustration with it, my desire to be closer to my goals, and every other reason I could think that would cause me to fail. This child is my cheerleader in every sense of the word it is a gift God has blessed her with. In her sweet way she can speak words that hit me directly in the heart. “Mom, I guess I don’t understand….Don’t other people have the same struggles? Don’t they get frustrated? But then that means you “get it” – you’ve been there and come through it… Right?? You can understand and help them…” This mom just had to stand there with her mouth open- WOW!!! Why did it take my daughter to speak it for me to see it?

So one week before the expiration of the personal training course I still had to pass a few more chapter tests, the finals, and work studies in hopes to get the certification. Again, God blessed and saw me through it successfully. The last piece, a CPR/AED certificate, has to be in place for me to be able to say that I have my completed ISSA Personal Trainer Certification and that class is scheduled for this upcoming Saturday. While I know, I am still a work in progress – (but aren’t we all?)- I am excited to see what the future holds and very thankful that the dream he placed was not allowed to just fall to the wayside to later become a regret or “what if”. I am hopeful, maybe God can use me, to inspire and encourage others as they face similar struggles in their lives.

Then and Now

While I CANNOT say my venture through this valley the last couple of years has been pleasant or fun, I CAN say it was humbling and needed. I can look back and say that the trip through the valley made me come to the realization that I didn’t have all the answers and had absolutely no control. It required me to put away pride,(that had seeped in and taken hold) look up, and place it all in God’s hands, seeking him for direction and answers. Today, with complete sincerity of heart, I can tell you – I am thankful for the journey through this valley.I am thankful for what I am learning everyday.

10) I am not where I hoped to be. Truth is things happen in life that you can’t control or change …expectations and dreams sometimes get dashed regardless of your best efforts. But NEVER lose hope/NEVER stop dreaming. Count each one of your blessings and trust God to bring good out of EVEN the most Chaotic upsets to your life. Realize also, that the dreams you felt a loss for were not as “grand” as you once thought. That having those chapters in your life close, open up new doors and new possibilities you otherwise would never have seen.

11) I don’t like religion but I LOVE God. To me, religion is what man does attempting to make rules to try to earn righteousness or set themselves as judges of others. I have come to see many times over in my lifetime that one can obey man-made “religious” rules and yet be completely void of the love of God. I am a Christian/Jesus follower. I believe that through Jesus’s death on the cross I am justified (by his grace) and nothing I “do” could ever achieve salvation. I believe that my relationship with Christ is more than a set of rules….that each day is a journey to know God better. My faith is now a big part of my life and hopefully it reflects in all that I do/say. I don’t force my faith/Christianity on anyone, but will gladly share it. This blog is more of a personal blog – If you are interested in it, I share more of my faith journey in alternate blog : http://studiofelicityinspirations.wordpress.com/

12) I am not the type that has to be “in a relationship” to know their worth or to validate themselves. I tend to be a bit independent when necessary. Still, I love to be treated like a lady. I guess somewhere inside many of us ladies there is that hope that maybe… just maybe… there are some “Prince Charming”s out there. And we wonder could… “forever & ever,amen/ happily ever after”… still exist? (Not that we expect princes to be perfect nor the relationship to be without its challenges)

Thanks for sticking with me on the introduction to the new blog. This is day 4 of 5… If you want to check out the previous snippets, follow the links on the blog page for each previous day’s posts…